Suku

Suku, also called Basuku, people of southwestern Congo (Kinshasa) and northwestern Angola. They speak a Bantu language of the Niger-Congo group of languages. Suku women cultivate cassava (yuca) as the staple crop, and men hunt. The fundamental social unit is the matrilineage, a corporate group based on descent in the female line. A son, however, lives in a compound near that of his father. Houses are rectangular and covered with thatch. In the traditional political system the Suku king delegated power to regional chiefs, who in turn had authority over local chiefs.

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...gaunt face with exaggerated nose and cheeks. This mask is thought to embody terrific powers and is kept in its own hut. Similar to the Yaka tudansi mask is the hemba mask of the nearby Suku, which is only slightly less grotesque. Carved Suku figures show more rounded forms than do the Yaka.